iPads Subdue Kids as Well as Hard Drugs

We all know that iPads and screens of various sorts are really quite good at shutting up annoying children, but a group of anaesthesiologists have been working on research that says iPads are so good at sedating kids they could be used as a valid stress-reducing tool before they undergo surgery.

Speaking at the World Congress of Anaesthesiologists -- where we imagine many attendees fell asleep without need of any medication -- the team behind the findings said that iPads were as effective at calming kids as traditional medication. They're not suggesting using a tablet as a replacement for a general anaesthetic, just in place of something to get them to sit still for more than two seconds before ops.

Dr Dominique Chassard said in a press release that: "Our study showed that child and parental anxiety before anaesthesia are equally blunted by midazolam or use of the iPad. However, the quality of induction of anaesthesia, as well as parental satisfaction, were judged better in the iPad group. Use of iPads or other tablet devices is a non-pharmacologic tool which can reduce perioperative stress without any sedative effect in paediatric ambulatory surgery." [Eurekalert via Quartz]